"I did the early morning last year hoping to come across some steals and everything I was looking for was the same price," Huber said. "Seems like the stores have half a dozen really good prices to get you in the door, and everything else is the same price."

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He said the hope of saving a buck or two pushes him to brave the crowds on Black Friday, which is so named because it's when retailers say their operations begin to turn a profit.

Stacie Staats went shopping Thanksgiving evening at Target and scored a Nook, regularly priced at $100, for $49. Back at it Friday morning at Best Buy, she said she was doing more self-giving shopping than Christmas shopping.

Not all kids who play baseball are uniformed with fancy script across their chests, traveling to $1,000 instructional camps and drilled how to properly hit the cut-off man. Some kids just play to play.